Chapter 7 - THE TOWER OF LIES
My heart hammered violently against my ribs like a trapped bird.
The top floor of the North Parking Structure. Natalie was right outside. She hadn't fled town—she was lurking in the shadows of the hospital, armed with the terrifying desperation of a hunted predator.
I looked at my father. "Dad, stay here with Matthew and Lily. Do not leave this room."
"Claire, what's wrong? You look terrified," Dad said, standing up.
"Just stay here and protect Lily!" I commanded, turning on my heel and sprinting toward the emergency exit stairwell before he could question me further.
As I ran up the concrete stairs, my hands flying over the metal railing, I pulled out my phone and sent a quick, silent location pin to Detective Vance with three typed words: N-PARKING ROOF. NATALIE HERE.
I pushed open the heavy steel fire door leading onto the open-air roof level of the North Parking Structure. The night air was freezing, sweeping across the concrete pavement under the dim, orange glow of the mercury vapor lights. The roof was mostly deserted, save for a few parked staff vehicles.
"Natalie!" I called out, my voice echoing across the empty space.
From behind a massive concrete pillar near the elevator shaft, a figure stepped out into the light.
It was Natalie. Her white pants were stained with dirt, her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were wild, bloodshot, and sunken. She looked completely unhinged.
In her right hand, she was holding a heavy metal tire iron. In her left hand, she was tightly gripping the wrist of nine-year-old Chloe. Chloe was shivering in a thin jacket, crying silently, terrified of her own mother.
"You brought the cops?" Natalie rasped, her voice trembling with manic paranoia. "Did you bring the cops, Claire?!"
"No! I came alone!" I shouted, keeping my hands visible as I slowly stepped forward. "Natalie, look at yourself! Look at Chloe! She’s terrified! Stop this madness!"
"Shut up!" Natalie screamed, swinging the tire iron through the air. "Shut your mouth! You ruined everything! You’ve ALWAYS ruined everything! Ever since we were kids, Mom and Dad looked at you like you were the sweet, innocent little angel, while I was expected to be perfect!"
"Mom spoiled you your entire life, Natalie!" I countered, taking another cautious step forward. "She defended every cruel thing you ever did! Dad protected you! You had everything, but it was never enough for you!"
"They gave me nothing!" Natalie shrieked, tears streaming down her dirty cheeks. "I am six hundred thousand dollars in debt! Men with guns are coming for my home! Chloe was going to be homeless! And then Grandmother Rose dies and leaves FOUR MILLION DOLLARS to YOUR daughter?! A seven-year-old brat who doesn't even know what a million dollars is?!"
"So you tried to burn my daughter alive?!" I roared, my maternal rage overriding my fear. "You coached your own nine-year-old child to shove her cousin into magnesium flames?!"
Chloe let out a loud sob, burying her face against her mother's arm. "Mommy, please... I don't want to do this anymore... I want to go home!"
"Quiet, Chloe!" Natalie snapped viciously, shaking the little girl violently. "We are doing this for our future! If Claire dies tonight, there's no one left to fight the estate probate! The money will be ours!"
My blood ran cold. Natalie hadn't summoned me here to negotiate. She had summoned me to kill me.
Natalie shoved Chloe backward behind the concrete pillar and lunged at me, raising the heavy tire iron high above her head.
"NATALIE, STOP!" I screamed, dodging to the left just as the heavy metal bar slammed violently into the concrete floor where I had been standing milliseconds before, sending bright sparks flying into the night air.
The momentum carried her forward. I threw my entire body weight into her torso, tackling her to the ground. We crashed hard onto the cold asphalt, tumbling near the edge of the roof wall.
Natalie fought like a feral animal, clawing at my face, screaming hysterical curses. She grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed my head down against the pavement. Pain exploded behind my eyes, blurring my vision with white light.
"You die tonight, Claire!" Natalie hissed, pinning me down, bringing her hands up to choke my throat. Her thumbs pressed violently into my windpipe, cutting off my air.
I gasped, thrashing beneath her, my hands frantically searching the ground for anything to defend myself. My fingers brushed against a cold, sharp object lying near the concrete pillar—it was the discarded metal tire iron.
With the last burst of strength in my suffocating body, I grabbed the tire iron with both hands and swung it upward, striking Natalie hard across her left shoulder.
Natalie let out a painful shriek, releasing my throat and tumbling backward onto the concrete.
I scrambled to my feet, coughing hysterically, gulping in the cold night air, holding the tire iron out defensively. "Don't... don't come near me!"
Natalie lay on her side, clutching her bleeding shoulder, looking up at me with pure, unadulterated hatred. "You think you won, Claire? Even if I go to jail, your daughter’s face is ruined forever! She will look in the mirror every single day for the rest of her life and see what I did to her!"
The sheer cruelty of her words cut deeper than any physical blade.
Suddenly, the heavy steel fire doors of the stairwell slammed open with a deafening bang.
"POLICE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS! GET ON THE GROUND NOW!"
Detective Vance and six armed tactical officers rushed onto the roof, their flashlights illuminating the scene with blinding white light. Red and blue police lasers targeted Natalie’s chest.
"DROP THE TIRE IRON, MRS. BENNETT!" Vance ordered me gently.
I let the tire iron fall from my hands, collapsing to my knees in exhaustion as officers swarmed past me.
Natalie tried to scramble toward the roof ledge, screaming hysterically, but two officers tackled her to the ground, pinning her arms behind her back and clicking metallic handcuffs tightly around her wrists.
"Natalie Bennett, you are under arrest for attempted premeditated murder, felony child endangerment, and assault with a deadly weapon!" Vance announced loudly over her frantic screams.
As they dragged a hysterical, screaming Natalie toward the police elevator, Detective Vance walked over to Chloe, who was sobbing uncontrollably behind the concrete pillar. Vance knelt down, pulling a soft blanket from his tactical kit and wrapping it around the traumatized little girl’s shoulders.
"It’s over, sweetheart. You’re safe now," Vance said gently.
I stood up, shaking violently, and walked over to Chloe. I knelt down in front of my niece. Despite everything her mother had forced her to do, Chloe was ultimately a victim of Natalie’s horrifying manipulation.
May you like
Chloe looked up at me through her tears, her small voice trembling. "Aunt Claire... I’m sorry... Mommy told me if I didn't push Lily, bad men were going to take us away... I’m so sorry..."
I pulled Chloe into a tight embrace, feeling the small child tremble in my arms. "It’s okay, Chloe. It’s not your fault. It’s over now."
